Shea Weber
Both the Flyers and Canadiens will be without key players in Friday’s Game 6, and it should be an energetic affair that fits the mold of playoff hockey at its finest. Game 6 is set for 7 p.m.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi took a major boarding penalty. Matt Niskanen has been suspended for Game 6 for a cross-check to the head of Brendan Gallagher. Nick Suzuki fueled the fire by patting Carter Hart on the head after a goal. A collision between Sean Couturier and Artturi Lehkonen started an end-of-game scrum. The bad blood in this series went from 0 to 60 in Game 5.
The Montreal Canadiens are not dead yet, and mark my words, you don’t want them to take it to a Game 7. Here are 5 Takeaways from Game 5 of Flyers-Canadiens.
It’s a quick turnaround for the Flyers from their second straight shutout win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday night gives the Flyers the chance to finally get back on the right side of a playoff series result and claim their first playoff series win in over eight years.
Carter Hart gathers a lot of the headlines as the netminder, but it really is the commitment of the rest of his teammates that has helped the Flyers take a 3-1 series lead on the Montreal Canadiens.
It wasn’t a perfect game from the Flyers in Game 3, but it was a better game than the debacle in Game 2. Now the Flyers have a chance to take a commanding lead in the series against the Montreal Canadiens again, just as it hits a crucial point. Game 4 is set for 3 p.m.
The series now shifts to Game 3 where Montreal will be the home team. Someone in the series will emerge with a 2-1 lead and a chance to take a commanding lead in the series in just a few days. For the Flyers, who certainly felt embarrassed by the result on Friday afternoon, this is a time for redemption, for a bounce-back game that could help them in the series. Game 3 is set for 8 p.m.
A pair of goals in the first period – before the Flyers could even get a shot on goal – and two more in the second paced the Canadiens to a 5-0 rout of the Flyers, evening the series at one.
The Flyers didn’t have their best in Game 1, but came away with the 2-1 win in large part due to their goaltender. On Friday afternoon, they have a chance to really establish themselves in the series. Game 2 is set for 3 p.m.
Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien was hospitalized after experiencing chest pains overnight and will miss the remainder of the series against the Flyers.
